Wound Cable Holder With Resilient Retainers for Controlled Unwinding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cable holders fail to effectively control the unwinding of excess cable length, leading to tangling and damage due to natural bend memory tendencies, especially when deploying optical fibers and electrical wires in telecommunications networks.
Innovation Solution
A wound cable holder with a holder body and a pair of spaced apart spools, featuring resiliently flexible fingers or flared portions that apply a resistive force against the cable windings to prevent self-unwinding, allowing controlled deployment and rewinding by coupling and decoupling mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If cable is stored in wound configuration for later deployment, then cable length is saved and organized, but cable may tangle and damage due to natural bend memory tendencies
Solution Approach 1:
The retainer applies a preliminary resistive force against the cable winding to counteract the natural bend memory tendencies before deployment begins. This preliminary anti-action prevents the cable from tangling or damaging itself during the unwinding process by opposing the harmful self-unwinding force that occurs when cable is stored in a wound configuration.
2Reliability
If retainer applies resistive force to prevent self-unwinding, then cable deployment control is improved, but excessive deployment prevention may restrict easy access for connections
Solution Approach 1:
The retainer is designed with resiliently flexible fingers that can dynamically adjust their resistive force. The fingers are biased to engage the cable winding and provide controlled resistance, but can be easily displaced when needed. This dynamic特性 allows the retainer to prevent unwanted self-unwinding while still permitting easy access for connections when the operator needs to deploy cable.
3Reliability
If resiliently flexible fingers are used to control unwinding, then cable deployment is controlled, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The resiliently flexible fingers are self-actuating components that use their own elasticity to provide the resistive force. They automatically engage and disengage from the cable winding based on the deployment state, without requiring external actuators, motors, or complex control mechanisms. This self-service approach achieves reliable cable unwinding control while minimizing device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution prevents excessive cable deployment and tangling by applying a controlled resistive force, ensuring reliable and damage-free unwinding and rewinding of cables, while allowing easy access for connections.
Implementation Method 1
the at least one retainer includes a resiliently flexible finger or a pair of resiliently flexible fingers
Data Source
AI summary
Holders for wound cables. The holders include retention features to control the rate at which cable windings are unwound during cable deployment. In some examples, the cable holder includes a pair of spaced apart spools and the cable is wound in windings configured as figure-8's. In some examples, the retention features include flexibly resilient fingers positioned to contact the windings at one or more retention points positioned at a deployment end of the holder.